This is a sculpture in Dublin. It is in memory of all the people forced to emigrate to America and other places around the world.
The map shows the drop in Population Island wide between 1841 and 1851. Only Belfast, Dublin and Cork managed to increase their population. This was partly due to an influx of famine victims from rural areas and the fact that the famine had comparatively little effect in urban areas. Elsewhere, the coastal counties of Ulster and Munster suffered the smallest falls. the inland, southern and western areas suffering the greatest falls
It must be pointed out that the map does not show the 'final' state of the famine years; the decline it depicts continued until after the mid 20th century. The table below shows the population of selected counties since 1841. In the case of Dublin, the population is ever-increasing. In other cases in Waterford, the population fell and recently began to rise, In Leitrim the decline has not yet stopped. In the Republic of Ireland, it was only after 1960 that the natural population increase exceeded emigration, and the population has been rising slowly since then.
The Irish language was another thing to decline in the famine years. The Irish language was almost gone after the Famine. In the early 1800s, around 40% of the population spoke Irish, compared to around 30% in 1845. Those who died or emigrated in the famine were disproportionately Irish speakers, mainly because the famine hit rural areas hardest and that is where Irish had survived the longest. In 1861, the number of Irish speakers had fallen to 24%. This decline continued reaching a low of 18% around 1926. Thanks to an educational policy in the Republic of Ireland, Irish language proficiency is increasing again. From the low of 18%, the number of Irish speakers in the Republic stood at 33% in 1991. In 1991, 88% most of the people in Northern Ireland didn’t speak Irish. The number of fluent Irish speakers in Ireland today is probably around 3%.
The famine seems to have helped the church expand in Ireland. Before the famine, it is said that a large amount of the population did not have any interest in the church. In fact, in rural Ireland, attendance figures show that only around half the population attended Mass regularly. After the famine, the population became much more dedicated to the Catholic Church, and this remains the case today. There was a boom in church-building after the famine, but it is not clear whether the rise in devotion to Catholicism was due to this increased church building or vice-versa.
Before the famine, it was fairly common for farmers to divide their lands between their sons. The birth rate was reasonably high so there were often several sons to divide the farm into.
In some areas, this was carried to extremes, with thousands of tiny fields often dividing an area of land. Many historians believed at the time, and still do today, that these divisions exacerbated the famine by leaving families very dependent on very small fields. In the famine period farmers had learned the lesson, and this system of "importable land inheritance" disappeared. In general, parents passed the farm, to a single son while giving educational or financial assistance to siblings, sometimes to settle elsewhere or to emigrate. It also increased the occurrence of "arranged" marriages with dowries, and these marriages occurred later than they would have before the famine. This did reduce the number of extended families living together, it did increase the opportunities available to children.
In conclusion, the famine marked a watershed in Irish history, for culture, religion, demographics, agriculture and industry. The famine is still studied in depth over 150 years after it took place.
This is a sculpture in Dublin. It is in memory of all the people forced to emigrate to America and other places around the world.
The map shows the drop in Population Island wide between 1841 and 1851. Only Belfast, Dublin and Cork managed to increase their population. This was partly due to an influx of famine victims from rural areas and the fact that the famine had comparatively little effect in urban areas. Elsewhere, the coastal counties of Ulster and Munster suffered the smallest falls. the inland, southern and western areas suffering the greatest falls
It must be pointed out that the map does not show the 'final' state of the famine years; the decline it depicts continued until after the mid 20th century. The table below shows the population of selected counties since 1841. In the case of Dublin, the population is ever-increasing. In other cases in Waterford, the population fell and recently began to rise, In Leitrim the decline has not yet stopped. In the Republic of Ireland, it was only after 1960 that the natural population increase exceeded emigration, and the population has been rising slowly since then.
The Irish language was another thing to decline in the famine years. The Irish language was almost gone after the Famine. In the early 1800s, around 40% of the population spoke Irish, compared to around 30% in 1845. Those who died or emigrated in the famine were disproportionately Irish speakers, mainly because the famine hit rural areas hardest and that is where Irish had survived the longest. In 1861, the number of Irish speakers had fallen to 24%. This decline continued reaching a low of 18% around 1926. Thanks to an educational policy in the Republic of Ireland, Irish language proficiency is increasing again. From the low of 18%, the number of Irish speakers in the Republic stood at 33% in 1991. In 1991, 88% most of the people in Northern Ireland didn’t speak Irish. The number of fluent Irish speakers in Ireland today is probably around 3%.
The famine seems to have helped the church expand in Ireland. Before the famine, it is said that a large amount of the population did not have any interest in the church. In fact, in rural Ireland, attendance figures show that only around half the population attended Mass regularly. After the famine, the population became much more dedicated to the Catholic Church, and this remains the case today. There was a boom in church-building after the famine, but it is not clear whether the rise in devotion to Catholicism was due to this increased church building or vice-versa.
Before the famine, it was fairly common for farmers to divide their lands between their sons. The birth rate was reasonably high so there were often several sons to divide the farm into.
In some areas, this was carried to extremes, with thousands of tiny fields often dividing an area of land. Many historians believed at the time, and still do today, that these divisions exacerbated the famine by leaving families very dependent on very small fields. In the famine period farmers had learned the lesson, and this system of "importable land inheritance" disappeared. In general, parents passed the farm, to a single son while giving educational or financial assistance to siblings, sometimes to settle elsewhere or to emigrate. It also increased the occurrence of "arranged" marriages with dowries, and these marriages occurred later than they would have before the famine. This did reduce the number of extended families living together, it did increase the opportunities available to children.
In conclusion, the famine marked a watershed in Irish history, for culture, religion, demographics, agriculture and industry. The famine is still studied in depth over 150 years after it took place.